Misunderstanding the Culture

[the Jester]

Until this thread I had never heard of the term "domino mask" guess you learn something new everyday.

Nor had I.

I try to learn something new every day...

 

[Beale Knight]

That reminds me of an old friend in intermediate/middle school that always wanted to pronounce DnD names "differently".

That reminds me of my sister thumbing through the 1e Player's Handbook and commenting on the "ETH-er-al" plane!

 

[Zappo]

Actually, "missile" and "bolt" were once equivalent in English.

Yeah, but I only learned that several months later.

 

[Ambrus]

Back when I started playing, the term I was most confused about was "girdle of giant strength". I imagined what I knew to be a girdle, some kind of laced up corset. Although I felt silly having my character wear one, the benefits far outweighed the stigma attached to wearing a corset. I'd simply ask the DM "I can wear it under my clothes right?" It was only several years later that I learned it was a fancy kind of belt.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

I know people who still mispronounce "ethereal" in exactly that way.

Also iaijutsu becomes "eye-JAT-su", and this is from a guy who's a fanatic for Legend of the Five Rings. He's just been infected with this lazy pronunciation.

Come to think of it, we also have shugenja as "shoo-KEN-ja" from some people I know. I tend not to worry too much about people using the Japanese pronunciation ("SAM-oo-rye" or "SAM-you-rye", it's all the same to me), especially since I speak no Japanese myself, but it worries me when people can't even read English letters.

I think I may once have heard "ay-stral" for astral once, but I think it was met with multiple snorts of derision.

 

[Tolen Mar]

...I'd seen Krull! And I can see "Glaive" on that table just fine!

You know that was my biggest dissapointment as well.

(which reminds me, I need to see if its on DVD, my copy is about to disintegrate...)

 

[milotha]

Under one GM, I spent a bit of time wondering why there were all these burning bras in the dungeon. Had some radical feminist movement been through recently and held a protest? Then I realized that he was mispronouncing the word brazier.

 

[Brother Ezra]

Under one GM, I spent a bit of time wondering why there were all these burning bras in the dungeon. Had some radical feminist movement been through recently and held a protest? Then I realized that he was mispronouncing the word brazier.

ARRGGHHH!!! Missed it by eight minutes!
Okay, I got another one. What about when you're in a dungeon, and wonder why all of the torches are being held on the walls by British pastries?

 

[dreaded_beast]

I know people who still mispronounce "ethereal" in exactly that way.

Also iaijutsu becomes "eye-JAT-su", and this is from a guy who's a fanatic for Legend of the Five Rings. He's just been infected with this lazy pronunciation.

Come to think of it, we also have shugenja as "shoo-KEN-ja" from some people I know. I tend not to worry too much about people using the Japanese pronunciation ("SAM-oo-rye" or "SAM-you-rye", it's all the same to me), especially since I speak no Japanese myself, but it worries me when people can't even read English letters.

I think I may once have heard "ay-stral" for astral once, but I think it was met with multiple snorts of derision.

my old group always wanted to pronounce "scimitar":

ske-mi-tar

and "scythe"

sky-th

whenever I said, I don't think it's pronounced that way, they said I was an idiot, :\

 

[eris404]

ARRGGHHH!!! Missed it by eight minutes!
Okay, I got another one. What about when you're in a dungeon, and wonder why all of the torches are being held on the walls by British pastries?

Pronunciation is still a big problem for me - luckily, Merriam-Webster's web site has a wonderful audio feature that helps. To this day, though, I still don't know the correct spelling or pronunciation of "guisarme." I couldn't figure out what it was until I saw a picture of it in the original Unearthed Arcana.

I didn't: the official Italian translation, dardo incantato, is equivalent to "enchanted bolt", which is pretty reasonable. It was only after many years that I started reading English material and thinking "WTF? Magic Missile?".

WAAAAAY off topic - you know, I like both the Italian and literal English translation of the name much better than "Magic Missile." I think I might change a bunch of spell names in my next campaign, because some of them are just terrible.